Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is marketing on a mobile device using push notifications in mobile apps, mobile web browsers and in-app messages.

Mobile is disrupting the way people now engage with brands and with each other. According to Pew Research Centre (2016) smartphone use is increasing globally, changing behaviours in communication, interconnectedness through social media particularly in emerging countries, and rates of technology adoption are up. Consumers use their smartphone to read emails, to visit websites, to shop and make buying decisions both online and offline via mobiles.

So, what does all of this mean for your online business?

While it is easy to become caught up with ever-changing technologies, mobile marketing is not simply technology, rather it is about your audience. What are they doing? How are they interacting with your brand? Where are they looking for information? These questions, along with others, can be answered through the creation of a customer persona, to ensure you are maximising your opportunities within the mobile realm. For more information on how to build a persona, please take a look at our Online Business: Customer Profiling for Success course.

Difference between mobile advertising and mobile marketing

Mobile advertising is when a marketer deploys an advertising campaign to the target audience, without having a relationship with the recipient of the campaign. It is normally deployed using banners and in apps (via a Display Network such as Google Display Network).

Banner ads can be found in most social media sites, with Instagram rolling out their ads in June 2016. in According to ClickZ in-app advertising can ‘provide a better solution to capturing the target audience’s attention and encourage interaction without interruption’.

By comparison, mobile marketing is sending messages to the target audience that you already have a relationship with and you want to re-engage with to create loyalty. This is usually carried out through your own app, website or email marketing list.

Inexpensive mobile marketing tactics

An inexpensive approach for small business is: consider increasing mobile marketing activities as the business grows; ensure the website is mobile friendly (responsive) - simple adjustments to the website that ensure the latest review is on the top of the list; include a call to action in all emails to customers; and provide customers with an SMS/MMs text subscription option.

You can also build your database by offering coupons on your website and require customers to sign up to obtain the coupon.

No matter what you read, if you do not currently have a mobile marketing strategy, then clearly you should start to create one - even if you start small!